The World Health Organization reports that nearly half of the worlds population is at risk for malaria. Nearly 1,000,000 people die yearly from this disease. And every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria.......about 200,000 infants a year! So with this in mind, let me tell you where I was mentally today:
I have to take malaria pills for my upcoming trip. 1 pill a week for 7 weeks, 2 before I go, 1 while I'm gone, and the 4 weeks after I come home. So I called Walgreens to check to see if they had them on hand or if they had to order them. The girl informed me they have them in stock and to bring my prescription to be filled. I inquired about the cost of these pills.....thinking they were to be costly for something so out of the ordinary. The young lady on the phone says $32.39. I said "Per pill?" "No ma'am, total". As I hung up, I had to pull over the car and take a deep breath. I am going to spend less than $33 on pills that will keep me from getting this deadly disease. HOW is it that this many children DIE from a disease that can be prevented so cheaply? WHY can we NOT get them what they need to not die needlessly? HOW can we sit here and do nothing? HOW can we make a difference.....a REAL difference? KNOWING there is a problem is the start.....but where do we go from here? I WANT to know!!!
Beyond the malaria, it took me to a new place. I thought about how that $33 is equivalent to one lunch per week for the 7 weeks. And then that thought led me to another thought......how many times have I said "I'm starving", when it has been 5 or 6 hours since my last meal?? How many of these babies go 5-6 DAYS without a single meal? So "starving" doesn't really MEAN "starving" to me does it? Can I ever truly know the meaning of that word? Can you? I don't mean that to be ugly....I just really don't think most of us know what "starving" truly is. I mean how much food do you toss out when you clean out the fridge? For us it is more than we should! Should we really waste any food? Is it just that easy for us to just toss it out without a thought? For me it used to be.......but it is harder and harder. And now we make a conscious effort to eat all that we buy and to not buy more than we will eat. I mean the store is only 3 miles up the road. Can't I go every 4 or 5 days instead of every 7-10??? Can we be inconvenienced to not be wasteful? Then the money we save instead of throwing away food can be sent to help feed STARVING children? Just a thought. Just a plethora of thoughts......so much swirling in my head.
After that, I went on to think about how so many of us can complain of boredom? Really? Is it even possible to be bored with so much to do around us? Bored? There is always something to be done....get in the word? help someone in need? In Proverbs 6 it warns us against FOLLY. Folly is defined as "a foolish action, mistake or idea". Ouch.....that's all I will say, ouch. I'm doing some soul searching and making some changes.
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